Goli Baje with Peanut Chutney | Mangalore Bajji

A very close friend of mine, shared this recipe with me yesterday. Though I am aware of this snack, I haven't given it a shot until last night. Some like to call this Mysore Bonda, but I feel 'Goli Baje' is more authentic :) It doesn't matter what you'd like to call, it is darn delicious. It pairs well with most chutneys and even ketchup. But peanut chutney with Goli Baje can make it the jodi no.1!

Goli Baje is made from a thick batter of maida, rice flour, very sour curd, tempering and  traditionally fried in coconut oil. If the curd is sour enough, you can skip the fermentation of batter. But the fermentation of the batter definitely makes a difference. I used refined oil instead of coconut oil. Goli Bajes are perfect as tea-time snack.

Goli Baje

Preparation time: 5 hours

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Yields: 12-13 Goli Bajes

Calories: 50/per piece

You will need:

3/4 cup of Maida/All purpose flour

1/4 cup of Rice flour

1 cup of sour curd/yogurt

1/2 tsp of Baking soda

1 green chilly, chopped

1 small piece of Ginger, grated

1/4 cup grated/chopped coconut

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Procedure:

Mix together maida, rice flour and salt. Add curd/yogurt and mix to form a smooth batter without any lumps.

Set this batter aside for 4-5 hours. Just 30 minutes before frying , mix in baking soda, green chilly, coconut and ginger.

The batter has to be in the consistency of 'ullundu/blackgram' vada's batter.

Take a spoonful of this batter and drop it in hot oil.It will puff up to a smooth round balls- 'golis'. Fry it in medium heat until golden brown.

Note: It is important to fry them in moderate heat, else they don't get cooked well inside.

Serve with spicy Peanut Chutney.

Peanut Chutney

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Yields: 1/2 Cup

Calories: 59 / tbsp

You will need:

1 handful of peanuts, dry roasted and skin removed

3 shallots

2 small cloves of garlic

1 dried red chilly

1 small piece of tamarind

1/2 tsp oil

1/4 tsp of sugar

salt to taste

Tempering:

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

A pinch of Asafetida/ Hing

few curry leaves

Heat 1/2tsp oil in a small pan, add red chilly followed by chopped shallots, garlic and tamarind. Saute for few minutes until the raw smell goes away.

Blend together peanuts, sautéed ingredients, salt and sugar with little water.

Transfer in a serving bowl. Heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds and hing. Once the mustard splutter, add curry leaves and turn off heat. Pour this tempering over the chutney.

Hummus

Happy New year all!

There isn't much going on in my blog ever since I left India. This new life here wasn't helping me much to indulge in trying out new recipes and rejoicing them. I hope I'am kind of accustomed now and believe I would be able to post often. I don't want to make it as a new year resolution and not sticking to it! So lets see how much improvement I can bring about to this blog in the coming days.

Recently ,I bought a Dslr camera 'Canon rebel t2i' and I'am totally loving it.I had a chance to visit New York and Florida for my Christmas vacation and had super fun with the camera there. 

I was surprised to receive a gift from my friends Preeti and Mohan. It's one of the most appreciated gifts I have ever received. Its a Vegetarian cookbook by Carla Bardi which has an interesting collection of recipes.

To start of with, I tried out the hummus dip featured in the cookbook.

I know this dip isn't much of a work, but I haven't tried making it in home all these days. So here I come with Hummus..

Ingredients:

1 16 oz can of Chickpeas(garbanzo beans)

1 tablespoon Tahini sauce

1/2 lemon ,squeezed

1 clove of Garlic

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

Salt

Paprika

Cumin powder

Dried mint leaves

Procedure:

• Wash the chickpeas twice to get rid of the sodium in it.
• Put them in a blender along with tahini sauce, lemon juice, garlic and salt
• Blend the mixture smooth by adding water.
• When the blender is running, tip in 2 tbsp of olive oil.
• Once the mixture is smooth transfer in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.
• Sprinkle paprika, cumin powder and dried mint leaves.

P.S You can also use dried chickpeas by soaking overnight and pressure cooking them the next morning. This would give a better quality hummus when compared to the easy method I have used.

I had the hummus with Pita bread and also tried with Indian Khakra( a crispy flatbread )

Aromatic Podis(powders) from my grandma's kitchen!

Y'day I had a great time with my paternal grandma..I was with her whole day watching her cook various things in a spree..I was adoring her elegant style of preparing the dishes with love and care..After lunch ,she made some podis that can be taken with rice and some ghee drizzled on top of it..During free time she makes these podis and store them which will last upto a month ..These podis can be a great quick fix during lazy days .We made five different podis and I love all of them..Next time she promised to make some other types of podis..

Here comes the recipe for the podis ..

Idli Milagai podi/Ullutham parrupu(Urad Dal) milagai Podi :

You will need :

1 cup Urad dal

8 dried red chillies

A pinch of Asafotedia

1 tsp oil

Salt 

Heat oil in a kadai and roast the urad dal until it turns to golden color..

Roasted Urad Dal

In the same kadai,roast the red chillies..

Roasted Red chillies

Grind together the roasted urad dal,red chillies,salt,asafotedia to powder.Cool and store in a air tight container.

Idli milagai podi is generally served as a accompainment for dosa or idlis.Mix them with gingely oil or ghee and use it as chutney..

Kothamalli(Coriander) Podi :

You will need:

1 cup coriander seeds,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

6 dried red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt 

Roasted Coriander seeds

Grind the coriander seeds,chillies and salt together to fine powder.Cool and store in a air tigt container.

Mix a  tablespoon of this aromatic podi with some ghee/oil in hot cup of rice ..Its tastes divine :)

Karivepillai(Curry leaves) Podi :

You will need:

3 cups of curry leaves,washed and dried in a towel

1 cup of urad dal,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

1 lemon sized ball of tamarind pulp

15 red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt

Tamarind ball and Curry leaves..

Grind urad dal ,chillies and salt together.Then add the tamarind and curry leaves and grind together to a fine powder.Cool and store a air tight container.

Some will roast the curry leaves before grinding but my grandma insisted not to do that ..She feels the real flavor and goodness of the curryleaves will be lost by roasting.Eat this podi everyday like a tablespoon along with rice , dosa/idli..or you can add this while making any curry /sambar..Its so good for hair and you will see the difference when taken regularly :)

Parrupu(Dal) Podi:

You will need:

1 cup tuar dal,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

10 red chillies,slightly roastesd in a tsp of oil

10 cloves of garlic,sking peeled

Salt

Grind together the dal,chillies ,garlic and salt to a powder.Cool and store in a air tight contianer.

Parrupu Podi is ready!

Onion Vadagam Podi :

You will need:

1 cup Onion vadagam (This is used for seasoning and its also known as talimpu/thallipu                                                        vadagam available in Indian super markets)

10 red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt

Onion Vadagam broken..

Break the onion vadams in small pieces and roast them in 2-3 tsps of oil .

Grind the roasted vadam,chillies and salt together to a powder.Cool and store in a air tight container.

When you roast these vadagams ,the whole home smells good.It can be served as a chutney for dosa/idli or can be mixed with rice and served..

Thengai (Coconut) Podi :

You will need :

1 cup grated coconut

8 red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

1/2 cup urad dal,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt

Roasted Coconut ..

Roasted the coconut in a pan without oil until it becomes dry and slightly golden..

Grind together roasted coconut,salt,red chillies and urad dal to powder.Cool and store in a air tight container..

My favourite Podi!

Sending these aromatic podis to Smitha's Colors of Taste - Powders:Podi's as an accompainment

Sending the first picture to Gayathri's Magnificient Click contest..

Im so happy to say my friend Archy of Archy's recipe book has given me these two lovely awards for me..Its so sweet of her to think of me as her friend :)

This is the first award I'm receiving.Thanks a lot Archy..Im so happy to be in the 'Circle of Friends' and I must say 'You are Sweet' too..

There are so many sweet people who give there encouraging comments each time I post..

I'm passing it to all of you buddies..

Cham,Asha,Priyanka,Madhu,Siri,Mahimaa,Vishali,Trupti,Varsha,Vibaas,Malar,Nithiya,

Siriharivatsan,Srikar,Gayathri,Priya,Ranjani,Deesha,Paru,Ankita,Neema,Viki,Sanghi,

FoodFanatic,Aparna,Rekhas,Suma,Shama,Zlamushka,Andhra Flavours,Lubna,Soma

plz pick it up...

Rava Dosa & Kathirikai(Brinjal/Eggplant) Chutney

Every time you go to a south Indian restaurant with your family,at least there would be one order for Rava dosa from your table.Rava dosa being the all- time favourite of many is definitely no big deal in making at home.The ingredients are so simple .The real art in making rava dosa is in spreading the dosa as thinly as possible.The rava(Semolina) renders the extra crispness to the dosa.Usually it is served with piping hot sambar ,coconut chutney and red onion chutney.

I bought a pound of eggplant from Chennai 2 days back.Used half of it to make grilled eggplant rounds for falafel sandwich.So to use up rest of the eggplant,I settled in making 'Kathirikai Chutney'.The recipe was given by my aunt J.I discovered that the crispy rava dosa with the  creamy 'Kathirikai chutney' is an unbeatable combination.With no further ado,let me share the recipe with you..

Rava Dosa:

You will need:

2 cups of rice flour

3/4 cup of Semolina(Rava)

1/4 cup of All purpose flour(Maida)

1/2 cup onion ,finely chopped

1 tsp grated ginger(optional)

2 tbsp of sour curd

1 green chilly ,finely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1 tsp of salt

Mix rice flour,maida,rava and salt.Add sour curd and water .Stir to make a homogenous mixture.Make sure there is no lumps.Close and set aside for 1-2 hours.

Before making dosa,add more water required.The batter must be more watery than the usual idli/dosa batter.Add cumin seeds,pepper ,chopped onions,green chilly and ginger.Mix well.

Place a tawa on flame.When the tawa is hot,dip a cross-sectionally cut onion on oil and rub the onion on the tawa.This will ensure the dosa to come off the tawa without sticking to it.

Pour the dosa batter from edges to the center of the tawa in the form of circle.Unlike ordinary dosa you can't place the spoon on the tawa and spread concentrically.Just pour the batter from the spoon without touching the tawa.

Try to pour the dosa batter evenly and as thinly as possible.

Keep the flame in medium-high..drizzle some oil around the edges of dosa.Cover it with a lid for 1 min.When you see the lower side browning flip the dosa and cook until it gets crispy.Fold and serve.The more thinner you make the dosa,the more crisper you get.It comes by practice.

Even I have not mastered in rava dosa yet.My grandma is expert in making the crispy rava dosa.Wish I could make like her someday..Anyways,the in the picture is made by me ,so they look bit thicker ;)

Kathirikai Chutney:

You will need:

1 big eggplant

2 tomatoes

2 onion

2 green chilly

1 tbsp raisins or 2 Dates

4-5 sprigs of Coriander

1/2 cup of Mint leaves

2 tbsp chana dal/Bengal gram

Rock salt 

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

Apply oil on the outer skin of an eggplant.Roast the eggplant on direct flame.Or bake the eggplant in a preheated oven of 250 C for 20 mins.

Peel the charred skin and mash the flesh in a blender.Do not over mash it..Small chunks of the eggplant flesh gives a good bite..Transfer in a dish....Slice onions and tomatoes..

Heat 2 tsp oil.Add the chana dal and roast them until golden brown color.Throw it on the blender..Add the onion,chilly and dates/raisin .Fry until the onion gets light brown color.Transfer them to the blender.

In the same pan,fry tomato wedges for few mins.Add the corianders and mint leaves ,fry them along with the tomato for a minute.Transfer this to the blender.

Add required amount of rock salt and cumin powder.Grind all the content to a smooth paste.Add few tbsp of water if required.

In the pan,heat a tsp of oil,and add mustard seeds,allow it to splutter.Add the eggplant flesh and the ground paste.Mix well and serve.

Drizzle some gingely oil over the chuntey,if you like ;)

Yummmm......

The Brinjal Chutney goes to RAMYA's Chutney/Dip Mania Event.

Falafel Sandwich-Pita bread,Falafel,French fries,Grilled Eggplant & Tahini sauce

I was quite busy with my exams and was out of town for few days.Pardon me for my inconsistent blogging.I was literally away from cooking for a long time :(.So yesterday I was in the kitchen for considerably longer time.

It was in my mind since I visited Kuwait that someday I must try Falafel sandwich.My Dad boasts about this sandwich everyday when I was at Kuwait.But I couldn't taste it and it was in my heart as a deepest regret.Even this time when he visited India, he made me jealous.He said to me that his everyday lunch is a Falafel sandwich.

This vegeterian sandwich is so popular in middle eastern countries.A perfect wholesome sandwich which I guess would be a favourite of all.I made this yesterday and invited few of my friends and cousins to try it.They asked me to make it again..That itself is a great success to this sandwich.I won't  advise to make this for a few becoz it involves lot of effort and time(I spent half a day making this)..But if you wanted to invite many of your friends for this falafel party then you can definitely give this a shot.I made around 7 sandwiches which were vanished in less than no time.

First let me tell you about this sandwich.A middle eastern bread called 'Pita' is used to make this sandwich.Pita bread is locally called as 'Khubz' in arabian countries.This puffed bread is similar to Indian Naan but it is in circular shape and has pocket(puffed).Traditionally,the pocket is slit open and stuffed with falafel(A patty made of chickpeas),french fries,pickle,lettuce,tomato wedges,cucumber cubes,grilled eggplant rounds and tahini sauce (A middle eastern sauce made with tahini(sesame paste) and lemon juice).

I will explain each of them one by one.

Pita Bread(Khubz):

You will need:

2 1/2 cups of flour(Maida/all purpose) + 1/4 cup for kneading/dusting

2 tbsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

A pinch of sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Take the warm water in a cup.Make sure that the water is not too hot.Add the yeast and sugar.Stir and cover and keep in a warm place for 10 mins.The yeast mixture gets frothy.

In a large mixing bowl,take the flour and add salt.Mix well.

Make a small well in the center add oil.Rub the flour with the oil.Add the yeast mixture.Mix until all the ingredients are nicely incorporated.Add more flour if sticky.Divide them into 7 equal portions.

Keep them in a plate and cover with the wide mouthed bowl.Keep this in a warm place for 1 hour.I preheated my oven and turn it off.Kept the dough inside the oven .It became double in size.

After an hour,punch down each portion.Dust in the flour and make as a ball.Using a rolling pin spread as a circle of even thickness.Bake in a 250 C preheated oven until it puffs up and you see brown spots.Keep other portion of dough covered while rolling/baking pita.

Baked one..

As many do not have an oven,they have an alternate way.Heat the tawa ,place the rolled dough on it.When you see white spots on side flip on the other side.Wait for the white spots on other side too.Now place the pita on direct flame ,you can see it puffing beautifully.Transfer on a cloth lined basket.The procedure is same as you do for Phulka.No need to apply oil/butter for pita.

Note:Pita pocket will be frim when it is baked.And you do not get the black small dots.

            Look the picture below for baked Pita.

                            'Stove top' Pita breads are softer and spotted as shown below.

Tahini Sauce:

You will need:

1/2 cup Tahini paste

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1 glove of garlice,finely minced

1 tbsp of finely chopped corainder

1/4 tsp of cumin powder

Salt

For Tahini paste:

1 cup of white sesame seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil/peanut oil

Dry roast sesame seeds on a pan for few mins on medium heat.

Grind the sesame seeds along with oil in a mixer until you get a smooth paste.This paste is Tahini.

In a bowl,add the tahini and water.Whisk until it become a homogenous mixture.

Add lemon juice,garlic,salt and coriander.Whisk until all are incorporated.Add ore water if you want it more watery.

Tahini sauce is ready.

Falafel

You will need:

1 cup of Chickpeas

1 medium sized onion

2 red chillies

1 tbsp pepper

3 gloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of baking powder

4-5 sprigs of coriander

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

salt

oil for frying

Soak chickpeas overnight.In a blender,coaresely grind all the ingredients from chickpeas to corainder.

Add the bread crumbs to the corasely ground mixture and mix well.

In a heavy pan,heat oil,make a patty out of the chickpea mixture.I used a 'Falafel maker'.If you dont have one,you can shape like 'Masala vada' and drop in oil.

Cook in medium flame.Remove from oil when it is browned.

French Fries:

 

You will need:

1/2 Kg of Potatoes(Russet vareity is very good for frying)

salt

oil for frying

Peel the potatoes.To cut the potato into strips,keep the potato in longitudinal postion and slice them into 2 mm thick ovals.You will get 4-5 ovals.Lay each oval flat and cut them into strips.

Wash the potato strip in water to remove starch.Fill a vessel with 3/4th of water,add genorous amount of salt and bring it to boil.Add the potato strips.Cook for exactly 7 mins.Now the potato strips will cooked for 60-70% only.

Strain the potato strips and spread them on a kitchen towels.Pat them dry.

Heat oil.The temp(270.C) can be higher for frying french chips as it already cooked.We just need to be crispy in the outer.I fried the chips following the falafel.Fry until you get nice golden color on the edges.Transfer on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Grilled Eggplant:

You will need:

Eggplant

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp pepper powder

2-3 tbsp oil

Cut the eggplant into thin round slices.

Mix the curry powder,cumin powder,pepper ,salt and oil to a paste.

Rub the paste on either sides of  the eggplant slices .Marinate for 1/2 hour.

In grill mode,grill the slices for 10 mins.5 mins on each side.

Or heat a tawa,place the slices on tawa and roast each sides until you get it crispy and browned.

Falafel Sandwich:

Peel and chop 1 cucumber.

Cut 2 tomatoes into wedges.

One can use lettuce.I dont get lettuce here.So i used strips of cabbage.

For pickle ,I used Jalapeno in vinegar..

Traditionally,the pita is cut cross -  sectionally,and all the goodies are sutffed in the pocket.As I have puffed the pita on direct flame,they are soft and flexible so i made as a wrap.

I placed 2 falafel slightly smashed.Some french fries,1 grilled eggplant,1 tomato wedge,2 pieces of cucmber,few cabbage strip,1 small piece of pickle,and of course some good amount of tahini sauce drizzled over them.Wrapped and inserted a tooth pick to hold them.

Served the with tomato ketchup and more tahini sauce.

In few mins,

The plate looked 'Khallas' !